1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of content and/or data management over a network. More particularly, the present invention is related in one exemplary aspect to apparatus and methods for delivering or distributing programming content and/or data between a plurality of user devices, and protection of the content.
2. Description of Related Technology
Recent advances in digital information processing and technology have made a whole range of services and functions available for delivery to consumers at their premises for very reasonable prices or subscription fees. These services and functions include digital content or programming (movies, etc.), digital video-on-demand (VOD), personal video recorder (PVR) and networked PVR (nPVR), Internet Protocol television (IPTV), digital media playback and recording, as well high speed Internet access and IP-based telephony (e.g., VoIP). Other services available to network users include access to, and recording of, digital music (e.g., MP3 files), as well local area networking (including wire-line and wireless local area networks) for distributing these services throughout the user's premises, and beyond. Network-delivered or network-based gaming and applications (“apps”) have also each recently come to the forefront as popular content areas for subscribers.
Currently, many of these services are provided and delivered to the user via a wide variety of different equipment environments including, inter alia, cable modems, Wi-Fi™ hubs, Ethernet hubs, gateways, switches and routers, computers, servers, cable or satellite networks and associated set-top boxes, and PSTNs.
Recent advances in consumer electronics have also led to the widespread introduction of a variety of portable media devices (PMDs) such as, inter alia, portable digital music devices such as the well known Apple iPod™ and other so-called “MP3 players”, cellular telephones/smart phones, handheld computers, laptop computers, netbooks, and personal digital assistants (PDA), which allow users to store and playback audio and video files. Various digital audio and video formats are utilized by PMDs. For example, MP3 players store a number of digitized audio files in the form of MP3 files which are then made accessible to the user. Additionally, the services associated with such technology are typically provided by multiple vendors including e.g., a cable service provider (MSO), cellular service provider (CSP), wireless service provider (WSP), VoIP service provider, music download service, “app” stores, game vendors, Internet service provider (ISP), PSTN telephone service, etc.
The myriad of services, equipment, data formats and providers can easily create confusion for a user, as often the equipment or services may not interoperate with one another, thus reducing the overall utility provided to the user, and increasing their frustration level.
Accordingly, playback of audio and video files is often limited to playback only on the device on which the content is stored. In other words, a user may only select audio and video files from a device to be played back to the user on that same device. Thus, if a user stores video content at e.g., a premises equipment, the user is limited to viewing the content on a display associated with the premises.
Current apparatus fail to provide users with the ability to move content stored on a device associated with a first device to a second device (such as a personal mobile device or PMD) while also obeying any restrictions on utilizing, copying and/or distributing the content. That is to say, the use and/or transfer of content stored on a first device must adhere to various rules or conditions. For example, content sources or generators and providers/distributors generally agree on restrictions on the use (e.g., number of plays, and by whom), reproduction, and/or transfer of digital content. In addition, there may be legally-based copyright rules or restrictions that regulate whether archival copies can be made, how many copies can be made, whether protective data such as DRM, watermarking, etc. must be included in the copy process, and how any copies that are made are managed, etc. Additionally, various rules may be instituted by a service provider regarding a particular subscriber's rights with respect to copying, using, and/or distributing content. Under the currently implemented systems, a customer is prohibited in many instances from making content stored at a user premises device available to more than one device connected thereto, while continuing to enforce the aforementioned copyright protection rules.
Furthermore, content conditional access (CA) paradigms currently in use are often quite restricted, and not generally extensible beyond the user's gateway, terminal, or cable/satellite set-top box. So, for example, the user would be prohibited from transferring streamed or downloaded content to their Wi-Fi enabled laptop or PC, since proper conditional access support—e.g., that associated with their host terrestrial (e.g., cable or fiber) or satellite network—does not exist in these devices.
Therefore, improved apparatus and methods for distributing digital services between a user premises and other devices (such as mobile devices), while still adhering to predetermined content protection (e.g., copyright) rules for the content are needed. Such improved apparatus and methods would ideally provide users with the ability to access content stored on a first device, and play it back from a second user device (such as a mobile device) while controlling the transfer of the content so that content owner agreements and copyright laws are obeyed.